


Broken Trust

by Burgie



Series: JackxYdris AU [4]
Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-10 01:26:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15280542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: In which Jack's worst dreams come true. Jack belongs to UglyTwinkBoi and Eden belongs to ZealousDawn (there might be a dash in there, I forget). Spoilers for the most recent story quests.





	Broken Trust

**Author's Note:**

  * For [UglyJackal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/UglyJackal/gifts).



A week after the forcefield had gone up, the potion was ready. On shaking legs, Jack mounted Dale and set off from his camping spot that he'd set up on the highland outside the forcefield bubble. Sometimes, passersby looked at him, wondering what this sad guy was doing sitting outside the forcefield all the time. His horses had turned up in Fort Pinta's stables again, returned from their spot under the circus tent. It had broken Jack's heart, to see that. Sure, it meant that his horses were out of the way of any potential harm, but it also meant that this was real. Permanent. Jack wouldn't just wake up one day to find out that all of this had been some terrible dream. Those horses in the stable were a reminder that Ydris had betrayed Jack's trust. That Jack had been wrong to trust him, to love him, hell, to agree to marry him. But he still wore the engagement ring that Ydris had given him. He hadn't seen Ydris from outside the forcefield, maybe it was that Untruth shit, so he didn't know if Ydris still wore his ring but... he hoped he did. When all else was lost, the only thing left was hope. Something that Jack wasn't all too familiar with, up until recently. Until Ydris had made him start hoping again, start believing in love and good things.

"I don't know what smells worse, the swamp or you," said Justin when Jack rode up to where the Moorland boy was waiting up by Pi's house.

"It's your breath from all that lasagna," said Linda, waving at the air in front of her nose as if to ward off a bad smell.

"Is the potion done yet?" asked Jack, looking at Pi and ignoring the other two.

"Yes," said Pi. "And not a moment too soon, my legs were about to fall off from all that dancing!" Jack was unamused.

"Finally," said Jack, taking the potion from her. He turned to the others. "Alright, you two, let's get going." For the first time that week, Jack felt energised. He rode Dale out of the swamp, being careful of the boards, though his elite dressage horse was quite good at navigating the narrow boards and leaping across the dangerous gaps. But as soon as they were out of the swamp, Jack poured on speed, urging Dale into a gallop to get to that damn forcefield as soon as possible. There might still be hope that all of this could be explained, that all of this could just be one huge misunderstanding. That Ydris wasn't as much of a bad guy, that the Wild Whispering sense had been wrong, that Ydris wanted to rescue Anne himself.

All that week, Jack had been too depressed to even get out of bed. He hadn't showered, had barely eaten except for when one of his friends had ridden by the highland to force some food into him every day (Eden had stopped after a few days, so it had been up to Louisa and some other friends. But then, even Louisa had stopped), hadn't been out riding his horses, hell, he hadn't even been to any of the forests of Jorvik. Fortunately, someone had hired Maya to take care of his horses for him, and she'd been more than happy to take care of his other animals as well. One of his foxes, usually Halli or Socks, or Walter kept trying to lick his face to rouse him, but Jack refused to get up for anything but the bare necessities. Until today. Today, his phone had buzzed with that text from Pi and he'd felt a surge of energy rush through him, mingled with fear that this would show him something that he wasn't ready to see.

Even now, standing outside the forcefield with the bottle in his hand, Jack heard the witch's words echo in his mind.

"I just hope that you're ready for what you might find..."

Jack closed his eyes, mentally preparing himself, and swallowed his third of the potion. He didn't even have time to comment on how much it tasted like ass before the sight of the maze before him blew him away. Pink fire... he'd seen that before.

While the other two bickered over whether this maze was a maze or a labyrinth, Jack made his way through the pink fire, feeling sick from more than just the potion. No wonder Dale hadn't wanted to come through here with him, horses were instinctually (understandably) afraid of fire. Though, Jack could really use his horse's support right about now.

Jack finally found his way out of the maze, glad to be out in the open once more but also terrified. He could feel Concorde's presence very closeby. Closing his eyes and taking in a shaky breath, Jack turned around.

In the big cage, the only one with wheels on it, stood a foal. A tiny, baby foal with the distinctive grey and white patterning that he'd seen on Concorde in the pictures that the Soul Riders had shown him. Jack shook his head, wishing that this wasn't true. But the truth was standing right in front of him. And, to back it up, Xin was behind him. Jack could feel him.

"Please tell me this was all you," Jack whispered, his voice cracking, breaking. Xin shrugged, as uncaring as ever.

"You're scaring our star," said Xin. "Now, come on. Mr Ydris is waiting for you under the big top." Jack rubbed his hands over his face, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. He took a deep breath and lowered them.

"Alright," said Jack. He really didn't want to, but he needed answers.

Jack had never before been so nervous about entering the big top. His heart pounded, his hands shook, he felt sicker than ever and knew that he would've thrown up if he'd eaten anything more substantial than a muesli bar. And there was Ydris, standing beside the large pole in the centre of the circus. Jack remembered another time that he'd come in here to find Ydris waiting for him. That seemed like another lifetime now. Another Jack. Another Ydris. Another circus. Another world.

Jack didn't want to run to him, but he did. He didn't want to fall to his knees, sobbing, when Ydris didn't return his embrace.

"I thought you loved me," said Jack, hating how pathetic he sounded. The tears ran down his cheeks, his body trembled, and all he could think about was how Ydris looked at him so devoid of any emotion. Jack wished that he could feel like that, wished that he could turn off his emotions, wished that he could forget. Wished that he wasn't so tied up with the Soul Riders. Because maybe this was about them.

"Oh, but I do love you," said Ydris, bending down to tilt Jack's face up. Jack pulled Ydris' hand away, his own hands shaking. To his mingled relief and hatred, Jack saw that Ydris still wore the beautiful engagement band around his finger.

"Then why all this spooky shit?" asked Jack. "Why are you acting so damn suspicious? I thought I was one of the good ones, dating someone unrelated to the druids or Dark Core."

"I'm sorry if I've upset you in any way, my little dove," said Ydris. Jack hated the effect that pet name had on him. He'd felt special, once, when Ydris had called him that. Until he'd heard him calling everyone that.

"You'd better have a damn good reason for all of this," said Jack, gesturing outside to where the maze was still up, or the forcefield to everyone else, to where the tiny foal stood in the cage, the only thing preventing the Soul Riders from reuniting.

"I do," said Ydris. "And perhaps I should have told you, but when you started asking around after my Fabulous Flying Foal, I-"

"Concorde," Jack interrupted. "His name is Concorde."

"And we need him far more than you do," said another voice. Ydris frowned, looking towards the entrance of the tent.

"Ah, we have guests," said Ydris. "Our audience has arrived."

"I don't want a fucking audience," said Jack, glancing at Linda and Justin and then back towards Ydris. "I just want you."

"My little- Jack," said Ydris. "You need to understand that I need that foal too. Far more than you do."

"Why?" asked Linda. Jack hated her in that moment, for interrupting Ydris when he was trying to explain everything.

"If you would let me finish," said Ydris. Linda, mercifully, shut up. "I need him because the Soul Riders cannot be allowed to continue meddling in my world."

"What does that mean?" asked Jack. "Their only goal is to stop Garnok from destroying our world."

"But your world is not mine," said Ydris. Jack swayed on his knees.

"Huh?" said Jack weakly.

"This world of yours is not the one that I call home," said Ydris. "I am only residing here temporarily, because my world, Pandoria, is falling apart."

"You're Pandorian?" Linda blurted.

"Oh, would you shut the fuck up!" Jack shouted at her. "Let the man speak!" God, he should've just come alone. From somewhere outside of the main ring, Jack heard horses begin to neigh and move around.

"Oh dear," said Ydris. "It seems that your little outburst has startled my act." A beautiful sooty buckskin Lusitano cantered out into the ring, rearing up in front of Ydris. Ydris sighed and waved his hand, freezing the horse into a standing position. The mare snorted, annoyed at having her legs locked in place.

"That looks like Phoenix," said Jack. "Only a mare." The mare nickered, trying to nudge him with her head despite being unable to do more than stand. Jack ignored her, though, waiting for Ydris to continue. "So, you're Pandorian, huh?"

"Yes, I am," said Ydris, nodding. He looked... relieved for some reason. Maybe he was just glad that Jack was listening to him and wanting to know more instead of freaking the fuck out, tearing the ring off his finger, and running away.

"Should've guessed," said Jack. "You're too good-looking to be human." Ydris smiled, but then Jack continued. "So all that shit about the Pandorian sickness getting to you was a lie, huh?"

"Yes," said Ydris, looking down at his feet. "I'm sorry that I lied to you, I just wasn't sure how you'd take the truth."

"I thought I proved to you that you could trust me," said Jack, feeling hurt all over again. "Fuck, I even... I trusted you enough to hope that maybe this would all be explained somehow."

"And it will be," said Ydris. "You see, the entity that the Soul Riders call Garnok is actually an energy that bubbles-"

"Actually-" Linda began.

"Linda I swear to god if you don't shut the fuck up!" Jack snapped at her. Linda immediately shut up.

"This energy, Garnok, has been damaging Pandoria for centuries," said Ydris. "It is, slowly but surely, destroying my home world. The fights with the Soul Riders only damage it more when Garnok lashes out. Dark Core wants to harvest this power, and I say let them."

"But they're going to destroy our- my- world with it, Ydris," said Jack.

"I can bring you to mine," said Ydris, taking Jack's hands in his own. Jack shook his head, pulling his hands away.

"No you can't," said Jack. "I wish you could but it'd kill me. And you said you wanted to keep me alive."

"We'll find a way," said Ydris. "Please, Jack, just trust me."

"I can't," said Jack, closing his eyes against fresh tears. "I'm sorry, Ydris, but I can't let you do this."

"Then you leave me no choice," said Ydris. He rested his hand gently under Jack's chin, tilting it up again to look at him. "I'm sorry, my dove. This will only hurt a little."

Jack braced himself, preparing for pain, preparing to be killed for daring to stand in Ydris' way. But the only pain was that of his limbs changing. His legs lengthening, toes compacting together to form a hoof, the same happening with his arms and fingers, his elbows changing direction to bend the other way, his torso lengthening, neck growing longer and face stretching out unnaturally. It was like his transformation into a werewolf, only worse. Still, at least there was nothing to clean up. Things were just changing. Being... added. At least Ydris had made him a stallion.

And suddenly, the entire landscape changed. The interior of the big top was gone, replaced by a gloomy landscape not unlike the one that Katja had plunged them into in her race. And there, standing before him, was Ydris, looking every bit the ringmaster. Even now, after what he'd done, Jack couldn't help but almost swoon at the sight of him.

"Ladies and gentlemen," said Ydris. "Or, should that be lady and gentleman and gentlestallion?" He chuckled, looking over at something. Jack followed his gaze, dismayed to find Linda and Justin tied to chairs while Dale stood shackled beside them, neighing and struggling against his binds. Jack couldn't even feel him anymore. "Welcome to the greatest show you'll ever see. And possibly the last, though this is only a... taste of what is to come." Jack shivered. That didn't sound good at all.

Ydris continued with a flourish of his hand.

"Presenting- Charlotte, Stephanie, Chloe, Loretta," Ydris introduced, four light grey Lusitanos entering the ring. They looked beautiful, their heads crowned with pink feathers. Jack had seen them before, but he didn't have time to laugh at the irony of the bitchiest girls getting turned into horses. Not with who Ydris introduced next. "Eden, Louisa," he continued, and Jack could have kicked himself for not realising who the buckskin mare was earlier. She stared at him now, snorting and rearing up in front of Ydris. The golden mare almost needed no introduction, keeping her ears pinned and head low. She looked like a horse about to bolt. "And Jack."

Suddenly, Jack found himself trotting into the 'ring', stopping at his place in between the other two Soul Riders. Eden looked at him as if to say 'I told you so', and Jack wished that he'd listened to her when she'd come to him with her concerns about the disappearing Bobcatz. He didn't know how Louisa had gotten here, but she'd probably explain later. If they ever got out of here.

"Today, for one showing only, I present to you a horse race unlike any other," said Ydris. "Prepare to be amazed. Whosoever places first may leave this place in their human form, but the losers will remain horses forever." He chuckled, sounding, for the first time, like a villain. Jack didn't know how he'd been so wrong. "And here comes a challenger- Zee." For a moment, Jack worried that it was another friend. But no, with the way this purple-streaked black mare brushed up against Ydris, he knew that this was Zee, the magician's real horse who hadn't shown up until just recently. Ydris had said that she'd been somewhere resting after an injury in a performance, but now Jack knew better- she'd probably been in Pandoria. And, though she was beautiful, Jack couldn't bring himself to admire her. To do anything more than worry. He was slow enough as a human, could he really outrun someone who trained every day? Although, with how scared she looked, Louisa would probably bolt out of this nightmare world. There was still Zee, though, and who knew how fast she could run.

For a moment after Ydris counted them down, none of them moved. Zee powered forward, though, already weaving between flaming pillars. Jack followed, hoping that he wouldn't take two steps and fall flat on his face. But somehow, Jack got up the courage to first walk, and then trot and even canter. He saw one of the Bobcatz fall, neighing in panic as she writhed around on her back and tried to regain her footing. Zee tore on ahead of them, though, confident in her abilities. Of course she was, she was an actual horse, not a human turned into a horse. Maybe Ydris would let them all go if at least one of the Soul Riders won? He hoped so, dropping back to try out his gaits. He'd been planning on purchasing a Lusitano this weekend, but he hadn't wanted to find out how they moved like this. So this was how it was like to be a horse... he kind of liked it, weird as it was. Maybe, if things had been different, this would have been more enjoyable. But all Jack could think about was his fiance. Maybe ex-fiance. He didn’t know anymore. Nothing was the same.

But then, the lights came back up and the landscape changed back to the inside of the circus tent. Jack stopped, looking around in confusion until he saw the golden mare standing in front of Ydris.

"Well done, Louisa," said Ydris, stroking the mare's nose. Louisa backed up a step, shaking her head and snorting. "Alright, alright, you lesbians are no fun." Louisa reared up, neighing, but Ydris snapped his fingers and she crashed to the ground as a human, landing on her face. Ydris smirked as she slowly got to her feet, trembling. Jack trotted over to stand next to her, Eden cantering to stand on her other side.

"Let them go," said Louisa, her voice trembling. "Please."

"Ah, but that wasn't the deal," Ydris tutted. "The winner gets turned back into a human, the losers remain horses in my show forever. Perhaps the awful girls in pink can become carousel horses, they were terrible!"

"I don't care about them," said Louisa. "At least let Jack go. He's your fiance. I thought you loved him." Ydris looked at his ring, sadness briefly crossing his features. Jack's heart almost stopped as he watched Ydris' fingers hover over the ring. But then, Ydris moved his hands back to his sides, curling them into fists.

"I cannot put my personal relationships above the fate of my world," said Ydris, looking at Jack. Jack looked away, catching his reflection in a mirror that had been set up against the ringside seats. At least Ydris had made him beautiful- a gorgeous blue roan Lusitano stallion stared back at him. And then, it vanished, replaced by a blue-haired man who looked like absolute shit. Jack looked at Ydris, who looked as sad as he did. Jack couldn't bring himself to feel sympathy for him, though. Not when Ydris waved his hand in a sweeping gesture that left the four humans and one horse standing outside the smaller forcefield that had appeared around the big top. Eden was still inside, but Jack could barely manage to pet Dale's nose when his horse pushed closer to him to comfort his rider.

"I'm fine, boy," said Jack, though he'd never felt so un-fine in his life. Fresh tears ran down his face, but Jack was too exhausted to cry or sob openly. He'd been through too much.

"Well, now what?" said Linda. "You were right, Louisa, he is bad. I knew I had a bad feeling about him for a reason."

"Well, thanks for letting me know!" Jack snapped. "Could've saved me a hell of a lot of heartache."

"Sorry," said Linda, cringing. Jack shook his head, angry at himself and the fucking Soul Riders and everything.

"Hey, we'll think of something," said Justin. "But wow, so much stuff just happened."

"Yeah, no shit," said Jack. "Just... go home, Justin."

"But you might need me," said Justin.

"GO away," said Jack, glaring at him. "This is all your fucking fault, if you'd never been kidnapped by fucking Dark Core, if you'd never been born, none of this shit would've ever happened."

"Sorry," said Justin, looking a little wounded. Jack didn't give a shit.

"Just... fuck." Now the grief hit Jack, the anger, the intense loathing, the pure and utter sadness that the love of his life wanted to destroy his world. He sobbed, falling to his knees, covering his face with his hands. "He's really an evil dick, isn't he?"

"I'm sorry," said Louisa, resting a hand on his shoulder. Jack shook his head, still weeping.

"No, you're the smart one, you fell for one of the good guys," said Jack. "I just had to... God, I feel like such a fucking idiot."

"You're not," said Louisa.

"Yes I am!" said Jack. "You all tried to warn me but did I listen? Fuck no! I was too busy being head over heels for him. Fucking someone who wasn't even human. I should've been able to tell."

"Well, it's not like he was clearly Pandorian," said Louisa. "He even fooled the Soul Riders."

"I was suspicious," said Linda.

"You're not helping," said Jack. Louisa frowned at Linda.

"But he could be of help," said Linda. "We want to defeat Garnok too, and if he has Concorde, he might be open to us borrowing him to rescue Anne."

"He does need Anne if he's going to use Concorde to open portals," said Louisa. "If that's the plan, anyway. I mean, I was thinking about it while I was a horse, and it makes sense for him to want to bring the Pandorians here and make this world a new Pandoria. But he can't do that without both Anne and Concorde."

"And how are we supposed to convince him to work with us?" asked Linda.

"Everneigh might know," said Louisa. She shook her head. "Uh, Evergray. Sorry, I guess I'm still in horse mode. I'll be craving hay next." Jack didn't laugh. He knew that his friend was only making jokes so that she wouldn’t fall apart completely. He wished that he could do that, but any lightness in him was just… gone. The light had been extinguished completely.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but you just might be right," said Linda. "Let's go talk to Evergray, I guess."

"Are you coming, Jack?" asked Louisa, looking at her friend. Jack shook his head.

"I dunno," said Jack. "I guess I can't stay here." He felt numb. This wasn’t home anymore.

When Louisa and Linda rode off towards Valedale, though, Jack went with them. Much as he wanted to wait and see if Ydris would come out, he couldn't sit around here feeling sad and sorry for himself all day. He wasn't sure if he could forgive him. Did he love Ydris? Yes, of course he did, he loved him so much that it literally hurt like a knife through his fucking heart that Ydris had betrayed him like this. He'd trapped girls as horses, which was funny in theory but in reality... it was fucking terrifying. And not just those Bobcat bitches but Zeal, too.

Evergray knew about the Pandorians. Of course he did, he'd probably even fucked them. The beautiful people of Pandoria, who all wore masks. All but Ydris, anyway. Though, in a sense, he had been wearing a mask- masquerading as just a travelling magician, a showman, someone who was neither good not evil but neutral.

"How are we meant to free Concorde?" asked Linda. "Ydris didn't seem to be in a talking mood, or a bargaining one."

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll come up with something," said Evergray. "You see, I hypothesise that Ydris has created a pocket where time doesn't work as it should. No matter how long it takes, no time could have passed in there. Or a lot of time could have passed. Regardless, we could use this- Concorde could be an adult in no time. Time is very much on our side here."

But Jack knew that it wasn't. The damage had been done now, and nothing could fix this. Besides, Eden was in there, and the other girls. They could grow old and die, or suffer a terrible accident in the ring, and nobody would be any the wiser until their bones had turned to dust. Anything could be happening inside that circus tent now. But the only thing happening outside was a breaking heart.


End file.
